Of Rebellion and Roses
by Marayla
Summary: Every piece of your personality is built to hide something. Every accessory you put on buries you more deeply in your own mental fortress. The greater the walls, the more you will be shut in. The greater the defenses, the more you will be abandoned. Eventually, you will be alone. Could one last person's effort break the barrier? Reiji x OC
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Diabolik Lovers or any of the companies affiliated with it.**

My name is Fyre, formerly Shiina Kuryuu of the Adinieran Slums. I don't have a last name now, though, I threw that away when I came to the capital of this corrupt country.

"Why would you call it corrupt?" You might ask that very question if you were one of those capital-dwellers who, sheltered from the majority of the oppression prevalent in the rest of the country, lived on the funds extorted from the poorer, lower-ranked commoners. You would, of course, likely have also been an avid reader of many shockingly biased newspapers that spew government propaganda, and a contented viewer of the newschannels that practically worship the tyrant who rules us, King Karlheinz the 1st.

Straight to the point, our country is thriving. Or more specifically, the capital is thriving. Our king is a madman who sees no issue in wrenching away the livelihood, soon followed by the very lives of the same commoners who make up his nation and army.

Rebellions have been easily quelled by the army consisting of selfish men and boys who leave sisters, daughters, and wives behind them in the slums, purely in an attempt fill their own bellies with army rations paid for by their children's labor.

The army is strong, though. It has defeated nation after nation, adding onto the oppressed people by the hundreds and thousands. Soldiers frequently abuse citizens who oppose them. Tax-collectors take more than is due, knowing quite well that the people aren't able to defend themselves. People lay down their lives for "Patriotism" and "For the common good" without knowing why.

I am not so weak.

I have a reason for every action of mine, and I take responsibility for the conseqences.

My story starts two months ago, when a knock came at the door of the small house where I lived with my twin sister, Chiisana, (Chii for short) and my mother. My mother opened it.

A scruffy-looking man stood at the door. My mother seemed to recognise him, and she let him in.

He sat in one of the small chairs in the living room and simply looked at Chii and I for a moment. I was then shocked by the first words out of his mouth.

"Shiina and Chiisana Kuryuu, your mother has given consent that you both be part of an operation of utmost secrecy. An operation to remove the tyrant king from his throne of stolen gold."

I gasped. My gaze turned to my mother. Her face was set and grim. Hers was the face of someone who had resigned themselves to the fate their choices led to.

A few hours later, the man left. He had left us with his name, how to contact him in emergencies, and a briefing as to what we were meant to do.

I was intended to be the main sword of the operation. My job was to infiltrate the capital, posing as the daughter of a nobleman. He had sent his real daughter away to the countryside to be brought up as a baby, and she was meant to be returning that week for her debut on society.

Thankfully, the real girl had a soft spot for the Rebellion, and was absolutely fine with switching out with me, since she despised her father for only sending letters to her that contained nothing but concern for whether or not she would embarrass the family. The only reason she herself was not performing the infiltration was because she was a pacifist who could not stand the sight of blood. There would likely be plenty of it in a rebellion.

Chiisana and I are both perfect doubles of each other, and, if we were to stand next to the girl I was to impersonate, we could easily be mistaken for triplets. It helped that she was only slightly older than us. I was chosen to be the primary impersonator purely because Chiisana specialized in other fields. She could switch out with me to let me investigate trickier areas, of course, but she was mainly to stay in the background and take care of anyone who got too nosy for their own good.

My name would be Fleur Luciana Asteri, a proud member of the 5th noble family Asteri. I enjoy playing the piano, horseback riding, and reading. Since the Asteri family specializes in technology, I am meant to know my way around a computer. In reality, I only know the basics from a travelling salesman's lessons. I was assured, however, that I wouldn't really need to know much. Just enough to get me by.

I brushed my hip-length auburn hair into a ponytail thoughtfully that night. Looking at my reflection in a mirror, I gloomily remarked to myself,

"This is the first time that the way you look might come in handy, Shiina. The green eyes may be a problem, though."

Few people in the capital had green eyes. In fact, green eyes were a rarity anywhere nowadays. The real Fleur had brown eyes tinged with green, but it was unlikely that anyone would be looking into my eyes for very long at any point.

Still, if anything got nasty, I could always get myself out of the area by using my little...talent.

I spread my fingers, palm up, in front of me. A spark of light appeared at my wrist, travelling down to the tips of my fingers, lingering there a moment before vanishing. It was quickly followed by another, and yet another. Soon, hundreds of electrical sparks danced on my palm, shooting up occasionally to create miniature fireworks. The show lasted about thirty seconds before I closed my hand into a fist, causing the lights to disappear.

I don't know when it started, but one day I woke up and just...somehow...knew I was more powerful. Once, I even redirected a lightning bolt away from our house to prevent it from causing any damage. Electricity is my domain.

I can give about fifty volts to anyone who touches me, at a moment's notice. It's my trump card. There isn't a person alive who can hurt me and get away without some serious burns.

There isn't a person yet who's had balls enough to hurt me twice.

**Author's Note: Hi! Ummm...First fanfic here, hope you like it...And that's about all I wanted to say! **

**Oh yeah, almost forgot! I welcome constructive criticism and suggestions, and I enjoy hearing from you if you liked it or not. Soo...Review, pretty please?**


	2. Chapter 2: Wit

The sleek, black car bumped along the ill-repaired asphalt road. It was deserted, unsurprisingly, since few people made enough money to buy a car in the first place.

This car, however, had caused me to go through quite a few emotions when I saw it first. The second I noticed the Bentley logo, I was outraged (though I contained it rather well) at the colossal amount of money that must have been forked over for this machine. The money that should have belonged to the citizens. When I set foot inside the car, I felt sad. Sad for the state of the country, that only the lofty nobility or the extremely rich would get to experience, much less look at the interior of one of these luxurious vehicles. Or any vehicle, for that matter.

Perhaps it was good, however, that the road I was travelling on was deserted. There was no hope for anyone born of a low status to raise themselves up, even through hard labor. That was the sheer cruelty of the situation of our nation. It would be torture to see cars like this going down the street, knowing you would never be able to ever have a chance to get one yourself.

I sat in silence most of the trip, reflecting on the frantic events of the past few days.

The day after the man came and told us the shocking news, a few women had arrived and begun tutoring Chiisana and I. It was almost funny how our training was so different from each other.

While she learned the art of throwing needles, knives, and sharpshooting with various firearms, (How anyone procured them, I still have no idea, since they wouldn't tell me) my schedule was filled to the brim with learning about computers and electronics and as much social etiquette as they could manage to pack into my brain in the short period of time we had.

"Keep your chin up! You need to look confident! No withering at the sight of soldiers anymore, you are a member of a proud noble family, no longer a commoner!"

"No, that's an ALU chip, not a RAM. Take another look."

"GYAAA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEAR THAT LAPTOP? WHY WOULD YOU BRING ANY SORT OF LIQUID NEAR THOSE DEVICES? GET IT AWAY, THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES WE HAVE!"

This was what I heard every waking moment of my day. I wish they would just learn how to, you know, CHILL. I frequently found myself wishing that the whole ordeal would just be done with already. My wish was granted soon enough, and on the eighth day of my waking nightmare, Chii and I were taken by wagon to the countryside mansion of Miss Fleur Asteri, who welcomed us with open arms.

I was pleasantly surprised when Chii and I finally got to talk with her. Contrary to my expectations of a spoiled, pompous brat, she was a quiet, kind girl with an abundance of clever wit. As it turned out, she had bribed the guards and soldiers at her mansion, so that they were all on the side of the rebellion. After that, she had driven away all soldiers and bodyguards proffered by her father for added protection so as to make it easy for the common people to get in to talk with her and ask for help when needed. In this region, she was known as quite the benefactor, and was greatly liked by most who met her.

We talked for a short time on girl stuff, then switched topics. I filled her in on the plan of action, and she took it rather well, with only a sigh or two here and there when I mentioned the possibility of bloodshed. After we finished talking, she stood abruptly.

"Well, you obviously can't go to the capital looking like you do. I'll have to loan you some things. "

Fleur giggled, running to her closet.

"I've never had a younger sister, or anyone else for that matter, to dress up. This should be fun!"

I nodded awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to the thought of being dressed up like a doll. Our hairstyles were extremely similar already, so there was no need for a haircut, the only difference was the fact that I preferred to leave my hair down. She preferred ponytails and the like. Nothing fancy, (Thank goodness) but simple and practical.

Still, my heart sank lower and lower into embarrassment and awkwardness every time Fleur made me try on an outfit.

A denim jacket with black trim? Too rugged.

Some white pants with a dark green sequin belt? Too formal, in a tuxedo-kind of way.

Finally, after around two hours of choosing and comparing, she settled on the best oufits for my body type, and had me switch out the outfit I currently wore for one of hers. The rest were packed into a supersize suitcase, along with multiple other knicknacks and commodities that a well-born girl might have. She assured me that they would have a room filled with everything I could possibly need while I was there, but it didn't hurt to have some extra insurance.

The silky-soft, poofy, lightweight material of my skirt flowed around my knees as I stepped outside about half an hour later to get to my awaiting car. Neither Chiisana nor Fleur could follow to send me off, due to the fact that officially, I was now Fleur, Chii looked far too much like Fleur and I for it to appear like a coincidence, and the car's chauffeur wasn't certain to be on our side. The corset-like spaghetti-strap top of my dress fitted my frame perfectly, with heeled shoes to match the dress. (It had taken me a bit to get used to those blasted 3-inch heels, but thanks to my terrific balance, at least they didn't turn lethal.) To set the outfit off, I had a rose choker and beaded rose headband to compliment the dangly rose earrings.

I looked like such a...girl. It was so utterly different from my usual jeans-and-t-shirt look that I had to look twice at myself before I realized it was me. The light makeup that Fleur had insisted upon didn't exactly help me out.

As the car set out for the capital, I wondered if my own mother would recognize me.

Would she even try?

I thought about it.

No.

She didn't care.

She didn't even think to tell us that she had volunteered us to be assassins.

But then, she never had cared enough to tell either Chii or I anything. The only thing she cared about was how much money we brought in from the factory work we did.

A cold knot of rage formed in my stomach.

I even hated the name she gave me. Shiina.

_But then, I'm leaving her._

_I don't have to keep that name._

_I could change it._

_I could change myself._

_Like a flickering flame, I could change as I pleased._

_I'm free like a flame, too._

_Flame._

_Fire._

_Fyre._

**Author's Note: I had some extra time on my hands, so...I updated! Sorry if it's a bit short, the chapters will be getting longer gradually, I assure you. Also, as a side note, Fyre is spelled almost like "Fire," but it's pronounced like "Fear."**


	3. Chapter 3: Crimson

"You may pass."

A black Bentley rolled smoothly through the iron gates of the Capital, containing two very different people on the inside. One was a very bored chauffeur, who had been hired by some filthy-rich nobleman to transport his probably-spoiled daughter from a mansion out in the country to his large estate in the capital. The other was a very tired suburban girl with dark auburn hair and dazed, green eyes, who had been drafted by a rebellion group to impersonate the aforementioned daughter, and use that as a cover to assassinate a king.

The girl had, half an hour prior, thrown away her past and parentage to start anew. Her old name was irrelevant now, and already forgotten and replaced.

The girl's name was Fyre. She was impersonating a noble-girl named Fleur Asteri, who was her exact double in many aspects but a few. Her age, for example. While Fyre had just turned 16 a few weeks prior, Fleur was two whole years older.

Well, the father wasn't likely to know what she looked like, much less her age. He had, conveniently, sent Fleur away at a young age to the countryside so that she wouldn't be in the way.

I smile grimly as the car slips into Sir Asteri's estate. This whole business will be over soon enough.

"Miss."

The chauffeur opens the door nearest to me, and I step out into the cool afternoon breeze.

"Thank you."

"Just doing my job, Miss."

I gives him my most winning smile.

"I know, but I figured someone should do it."

Since this entire kingdom is about to be turned upside-down.

The chauffeur takes my baggage out of the trunk and leads me up the steps to the massive, imposing door at the front of the building. He raps three times with the bronze knocker, then waits.

A few seconds later, the mahogany doors swing open, revealing a tall, moustached butler. He motions for a few maids, who take the luggage from the chauffeur, who bows and walks back to his car before driving off.

"Welcome to the estate, Miss Fleur. I shall have a maid escort you to your room."

I nod to the butler's curt greeting, and follow the short, petite, cheery maid up a few flights of steps and through a hallway to what I assume is intended to be my room. The maid put one bent finger to her lower lip.

"It's been quite some time since we had a girl to care for...Would you like me to help you with anything?"

I shake my head no.

"Actually, could I just check out the room, then go on a walk? I won't go too far away from the estate, I just want to look at the area around here a bit."

The maid seems to consider this for a second.

"I'm sure it would be alright...But please be back before five. You can tell the time by the large clock-tower in the square. It can be seen from 'most everywhere, but if you aren't back in time for dinner, I'll get told off by my superiors..."

I nod, content. It's all the time I need.

Walking into my new room, I sigh. It's beautiful. And probably VERY expensive. Well, who am I to be surprised anymore?

A huge, canopied bed covers a large fraction of the carpeted floor space in the sophisticated, purple-and-white-colored room. There's a white, marble, electric fireplace against the wall, (Probably more for the room's theme than for practicality) and a padded, cream-colored window seat built into the wall underneath a window by the bed. Directly to the right of the door, I can see a dressing table and wardrobe that, with further inspection, turns out to be stocked with a variety of perfumes and cosmetics that I'm not sure would look good on me even if I knew how to apply them. There's also an ID card on the dressing table. I look at it. Fleur Asteri. It's meant for me. I slip it into the thin pocket in the side of my top. Oh, there's a door here, in between the wardrobe and dressing table!

Upon exploring it, I find that the Victorian-styled bedroom even had it's own separate bathroom. With marble flooring, wall-to-wall mirrors, and a huge round bathtub with water-jet features that had to be at least seven feet in diameter. Of course. It's nobility, stupid, they excel at extravagant. I sigh yet again.

A few minutes later, I walk out the gates of the estate, and join the crowds of people on the street. It's my first time seeing so many people at once, so naturally I'm feeling a bit...dwarfed? Frustrated? Intimidated? Yeah, try rolling all three of those into a big ball of insecurity, and that's what I'm feeling. As I'm crowded along the sidewalks by throngs of people, I realize I'm out of my element. I'm even beginning to feel a bit scared. Crap, that's the _LAST_ emotion I need right now.

I make my way over to the side of a building and slip halfway into an alley where there aren't any people, and take a deep breath.

_Breathe. Breathe. Breathe._

I calm down slightly, and look around the alley. It's surprisingly well lit...hmm...

I grin. It could come in handy. May as well take advantage of my fortune.

Walking through the alleys, I get a pretty good handle on the layout of the area. The grids of streets and sidewalks could easily be bypassed entirely by following the maze of areas in between the buildings, as it turns out.

A rat skitters by as I hear a dong-dong-dong sound. It resonates through the me as I realize what it means. It's five already.

I sprint back the way I had come, and in my haste almost don't notice the drops of red beneath my feet when I get back to the place I had entered. Red? That hadn't been there before...

I stop cold in my tracks. Someone could be in trouble here, and I was worried about my dinner and a solitary maid getting a yelling at?

I turn on my heel and quickly follow the red trail to a dead end in between a department building and a large restaurant. A tall, thin man with black hair was standing there with...was that a woman? His head was against her neck. His head lifted, and her dropped the woman to the ground. She didn't move. The man raised his head and turned around. Dripping from his mouth was...BLOOD?!

I dodge around a corner before he can see me, breathing heavily.

He was...biting her? I've heard about vampires in fairytales, of course, but never believed that they were true. But then, I could control electricity myself, so who was I to be talking about believing in magical stuff?

A wave of nausea sweeps over me. I realize just then that I'd hardly eaten since dinner last night, and then there's this kind of shock on top of it?

I stumble away, hearing nothing but the pounding of my own heart ringing through my ears. Maybe people have told you that before you pass out, your head feels really light and airy? It doesn't. I only get a few steps away before my head starts feeling like a rock. I stagger, trying to keep my balance, but my rock-head wins the battle and I topple to the dirt.

Just before I pass out, I look up and see a two crimson eyes glinting down at me through a pair of glasses.

"How unsightly."

**Author's Note: :3 I have a derpy side to me, don't I? Welp, I'll try to keep Reiji in character, so those of you who rage at OOC Reiji, you are safe from me. I think. Maybe. _; I'll try.**

**Anyway, I drew and uploaded a picture of Fyre and her current outfit to my Deviantart, so feel free to check it out!**

** art/Fyre-522898603**

**Thanks to Sloxed on Deviantart for letting me use his amazing work for the cover picture of this fanfic! :D (Out of courtesy, here's a link to his page: )**

**Also, please, please,****_ please_**** review. I need to know how I'm doing and if people even like it at all, or if I should just discontinue it and work on another fanfic. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: Confusion

Some people I know might wonder how I came to the conclusion of "Vampire" so easily after seeing so little evidence.

Well, the answer is actually surprisingly simple.

While Vampires tend to lurk at the very back of many fairytales and stories, there are some people who believe that they are real, for various reasons. I have never been one of them, but I was prepared to change at a moment's notice.

You see, when King Karlheinz usurped our previous leader, he didn't exactly do it by himself. Rumour has it that he commanded a secret force of pale men and women who helped him defeat the royal guard and nobles through assassination and fighting from the shadows. Witnesses confirm the unreal way in which they seemed to materialize from the shadows, and the brutal, barbaric way in which they killed. Most of the victims had their throats ripped out or were entirely devoid of blood when their corpses were discovered. Other witnesses even saw the pale people snuff lives out...with their strangely pointed teeth.

Granted, occasionally there were other methods, a knife slipped between the ribs here, or a poisoned drink there, but the last piece of information I found out about was the most worrying, and gave the most confirmation as to my hypothesis on their race.

No blade seemed to be able to pierce their skin, no bullet could blast through them or even scratch them. Any attempt to crush them was met with extraordinary feats of strength, soon followed by a massacre of all the people in the area to prevent witnesses. Many women had been sent to the palace for various reasons, and none came out again. The most recent was a girl named Yui from the church in a neighboring village to my own. I had met her a few times before she left, and she seemed nice...

But she never stood a chance.

She was too frail, too naive.

I wonder how she must have felt, arriving there at the castle, and how she must have felt as she died, as she likely has by now. My own thoughts swirl dimly in my head, and slip out of my grasp, frustratingly elusive. I am vaguely conscious of a swaying feeling before my mind fades into nothingness again.

As I come to my senses once more, I become aware of a strong scent of lavender and chamomile nearby me. As my nose has always been extremely sensitive, I can also detect undertones of something faintly spicy that tickles my nose.

"A-achoo!"

I sneeze, quickly attempting to cover my mouth with my arm, but the combination of the sneeze and quick movement sends a shockwave of sharp pain ricocheting through my head and wrist.

I wince, squeezing my eyes more tightly shut, and feel my head. Bandages?

My eyes pop open, and I sit up quickly from my prone position, taking a quick assessment of the area around me. A guy with oddly red eyes, glasses and blackish-grey hair looks at me disapprovingly from a few feet away, standing with his arms crossed next to an ornate door.

I scramble out of the bed I had been in, (Did he put me there?) and survival instincts kick in as I assume a wary stance, as close to the window as I can get. In case I find myself needing to climb, I think quickly, ignoring the pain in my head. I take a quick, fleeting glance out the window, then realize that I was stupid to think that the option of climbing or jumping down was even possible.

I appear to be on the fourth floor. Looking back at the glasses-guy, he appears to be watching me with...is that amusement or exasperation? I can't quite tell.

"Are you finished running about, woman? Why did you choose to obstruct my path earlier with such an unsightly display of anemia? Tell me your name, rank, and family, then proceed to explain yourself."

I narrow my eyes. Pushy guy, isn't he?

Still, he doesn't look quite hostile yet, only annoyed. He likely wouldn't resort to violence at the moment. Abandoning my stance, I deepen my own voice slightly and put on an air of sarcasm and fearlessness that I hope sounds intimidating and, above all, legitimate.

"Explain myself? Why? My name is Fleur Asteri, though not only is it impolite not to introduce yourself before asking someone else's name, but I sincerely hope you plan on returning me to my family's estate sometime soon, or you shall face the consequences of kidnapping a noble. Also, why am I bandaged?"

I make sure to deliberately avoid the direct question of anemia, as I know that it could only bring up questions as to my daily nourishment.

"Ah, how rude of me. My name is Reiji Sakamaki, Second Prince of the Royal Family. Surely that will ring a few bells. I apologize for making you think you were kidnapped, I hadn't realized that someone as well-bred as the Asteri family's heiress would still be so inane as to waltz through dark alleys at night while anemic. As to your bandages, you hit your head when you toppled over, and fractured your wrist in two places by falling on it. You may find it prudent to lay off the sweets until you lose a few pounds."

I grimace inwardly, watching his now-slightly-more-cheery face. He seems to enjoy my presence about as much as I enjoy his. Change of plans. I quickly think over what I know of him.

Prince Reiji is known far and wide as a stick-in-the-mud. His unforgiving, overly-polite-while-plotting-your-painful-demise attitude has long since earned him quite a reputation.

In other words, he sounds like the kind of character I can screw with.

Heh, heh...

"Oh, that explanation does make some vestige of sense. I, as well, apologize for my rudeness, your Highness, but frankly, I myself would never have guessed that the Second-"

Here I put emphasis on the word "Second,"

"-Prince of this empire would be so much of a...condescending douche."

I innocently smile as I spew what could possibly be my own demise. Eh, it was worth it.

"Is that so? I would enjoy carrying on a conversation with you as to the precise level of my apparent douche-ness, though I am uncertain if a girl such as yourself with the mental capacity of an amoeba would be capable of comprehending anything further than their next meal."

Well, if that's how you want to play it...

"Fine by me, I wouldn't necessarily expect a pompous, spoiled brat with mommy-issues and a trademarked smirky-bastard look to understand the wonders of food anyway."

As we continue to exchange profanities and polite insults, Reiji's expression begins to take a dangerous turn. The instant he takes a step forwards, though, (presumably to take some form of punishing action for my insolence) a mocking laugh rings through the room, echoing against the walls and back.

I whip my head around, searching for the source of the noise, when my gaze settles on a flambouyantly-dressed guy with auburn hair, shocking green(!) eyes, a mischievous grin, and an awesome hat.

My brain and mouth must have disconnected somewhere along the line while talking to/hurling insults at Mr. McCrabby, because the first words out of my mouth are,

"Hey, it's everyone's gay best friend! Cool hat, whoever you are."

The hat guy bursts out in the most awkward-sounding laughter I've ever heard before, and I notice another person standing next to him.

A...purple-haired guy holding a teddy bear with an eyepatch? Wierd. Does he even get enough sleep? Those bags under his eyes look pretty creepy.

When he speaks, though, the eye-bags become my least concern as I get the sudden urge to grab his teddy bear and burn it like some kind of object from hell itself.

"She doesn't have very good manners, does she, Teddy?"

Talking to a teddy bear? That's just messed up.

"Hello, shota from hell!"

I exclaim, oddly cheerful. I should be a heck of a lot more scared, but some part of my brain seems to still be disconnected from my mouth.

"Kanato, nobody wants to hear you talk to your creepy bear right now,"

I hear from a corner, and, turning again, I see yet another teenager, this one with white hair that seems dyed, red eyes, and a scowl that could kill an elephant.

I glare straight back, and direct a sarcastic question towards the hat guy.

"Seriously, are there any more of you? You guys are popping up from everywhere! Where do you hide, in desk drawers?"

"Shut up, you're all being annoying. Let me sleep for once."

I whirl towards the couch next to me, then stumble back in surprise when I see a guy with dirty-blonde hair and blue eyes, who seems to be wearing earbuds, and appears to be the epitomy of bored.

"SWEET MOTHER OF MARY, THEY'RE BREEDING."

**Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, a "shota" is a boy (Or even teen, in some cases) who goes for the appearance of cute and sweet. If you've seen Honey from OHSHC, that's a classic example of an anime shota. (A "loli" is the female version of that, but usually the ages can range anywhere from childhood to mid 20's or 30's.) Sorry, I couldn't figure out how best to express that type of person except as a "shota," and I needed to crank out a chapter soon, or certain people were planning on using me as their own personal meat toboggan. (Pretty sure that's how you spell it)**


	5. Chapter 5: Spiral

"So that's the situation. Could you please let me get back to my father? He's probably extremely worried at the moment, what with me having disappeared right after arriving and all..."

I try to steady my voice. After the appearance of the other teenagers, (At least, I assumed they were teen-aged) the "Glasses Guy," Reiji, stopped his stream of insults just long enough for the "Shota from Hell," to casually suggest that I be coated in melted wax as a punishment for disturbing his nap.

...The disturbing part was that the bored blonde actually looked like he was considering it. Then seemed to decide that it would involve getting up, and thus not worth the effort.

"Well, we could inform him and return you...or we could just say that you were hurt rather badly by some street thugs and are staying at the palace for the time being...while you recover, of course...and during your stay, perhaps we could teach you a few pointers on behaviour in front of royalty."

The second I heard the first part of this sentence spoken, I realized a couple things: Firstly, that the hat-dude had disappeared while I was explaining my situation. Secondly, that these words were spoken right behind my ear, far too close for comfort, in such a way that the speaker's breath ghosted across my ear. *shudder* Thirdly, when I tried to headbutt the guy, then move away, the only thing my head met with was air, (How did he dodge so quickly) and I was held in place with a crushing grip on my shoulders.

I close my eyes and inhale then exhale slowly, blocking out the sharp pain in my shoulders. Opening my eyes as calmly as possible, I turn my head as far as possible and look the auburn jerk in the eye.

"Let go, unless you truly wish me to crush your balls like grapes and neuter you in your sleep with a rusty pair of blunted scissors. I have an acquaintance who would gladly testify as to the extreme agony involved. Also, you seem like the kind of guy who would prefer to keep his genitalia intact for various reasons, most of which would probably mentally scar me for life."

I am dead serious, and I make sure he knows it.

His eyes widen fractionally, then return to their normal amused gleam as his grip loosens and he laughs again. That noise really does make me want to introduce my ears to a cheese grater.

Mr. Perma-scowl and Mr. Boredly-blond glance my way in hardly concealed shock, then almost seem to grin slightly.

"What was the transgression of this acquaintance that was so horrible so as to justify THAT?"

The hat-guy guy asks, still laughing.

I answer simply, with the truth.

"It was a hobo. He kissed my friend, then pretended to hump my pet bunny."

"That's disturbing, but not that bad..."

"Then ate it. The bunny, not the friend."

"Oh."

"It was tragic."

"I can imagine."

"He didn't even cook it."

"..."

I grin, seeing slight discomfort on his face at last.

"Shut the hell up."

I turn towards Mr. Perma-scowl, who is currently crunching a chunk of the wall into dust. He seems to be trying and failing miserably to keep a raging temper under control.

I decide to help him out with that. I really don't care for people like them, and as long as I'm screwing with one...

Blowing the mother of all raspberries at him, I cross my eyes and contort my face into a grimace that my sister Chii has (quite appropriately) nicknamed the "Psychopathic Duck Face."

After a few moments of that, I grin, eyes still crossed

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries,"

I quoted something I had heard once at the place where I used to work.

Still, that did it.

"You...little...BRAT."

He loses it entirely, suddenly appearing behind me and swinging a fist that whistles over my head as I duck and scamper to the side, uncrossing my eyes quickly. I pull my face into a few more grotesque gargoyle-like grimaces in quick succession, and dance away each time his fists nearly connect with me.

"Subaru, that's enough."

I hear Reiji speak from the sidelines, probably worried more about the state of the walls than my condition. I back against the window, the open air and the full moon at my back, suspended in the starry, clear sky. I always have felt more daring on clear nights with a full moon, for some reason.

After about four punches more, Subaru changes tack. Not expecting it, I have no time to react as a hefty roundhouse kick crashes into my stomach. I fly backwards into the wall right behind me, and as my already-injured head cracks against the wall, the room starts spinning. I feel my body slump half to the ground before I receive a punch to the gut, flattening me against the wall again.

I throw my body to the side to avoid the next punch, but trip over the couch and another obstacle.

My eyes continue to show me nothing but a myriad of colors and stars as I fall. It's taking a bit longer to reach solid impact than I predicted, though.

Strange, I thought I would have hit the floor by now.

Unless the second obstacle was...Oh crap.

The windowsill. The couch was next to the window. I tripped over the couch-

And fell out the window.

I reach out with both arms to grab something, and my good hand catches on an outcropping, stopping my fall, but jerking my shoulder sharply. I scream as a sharp pain lances though my shoulder, and I quickly realize with sickening certainty that it's been dislocated. I quickly latch on with my other hand, but quickly discover that I don't have the strength left to pull myself up.

As my fingers begin to slip, I consider the obvious.

This is probably going to hurt.

My fingers lose their grip.

I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the impact.

A pressure suddenly appears at my good wrist, suspending my fall.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...

I open my eyes one by one.

All I can see is a dark silhouette against the bright moon above, and a hand gripping me.

The silhouette is floating in midair. I guess I should be surprised, but I'm hurting a bit too much for that right now.

"Would you like to restart your hideous first impression, or would you prefer me to let go and let you fall? We are still three stories up, you know, and with those rather sharp rocks down there, (considering your current state,) you would likely be bedridden for months, or even years at best. Worst case scenario, you break your neck or spine and die instantly. Well, either way, it would cure you of your smart mouth. Permanently. Which would you prefer, woman?"

I blink. Fan-freaking-tastic.

The voice belongs to none other than Sir Megasize-Stick-Up-His-Anus, Reiji.

Lovely. [SARCASM]

Doing my best to keep my voice from shaking, I reply promptly,

"Well, actually, I would rather introduce myself to the rocks over attempting to be polite to you. But, I have things I need to get done before I befriend the lovely folks in the next life. Or the dirt. On second thought, there has to be another way to go that wouldn't involve me going face-first into the gravel again. We had quite the disagreement earlier, and I'd prefer not to be kissing it again any time soon. Personal preference, you must understand."

He sighs.

Is that a good sign or a bad sign?

It must be good, because he lifts me back through the window.

I crumple to the floor as soon as I'm released, and the last things I hear before switching to 'SLEEP NOW, YOU'RE EXHAUSTED' mode are "Shota from Hell" scolding Subaru for punching a noble girl, and the hat-dude musing over whether to nickname me 'Little Bitch' like "The other", (Whatever that means) or 'Tiny Tramp.' With my last coherent thought, I wonder if I'm really all that tiny compared to them.

**Author's Note: Ok, it took me a bit longer to update because of various family reasons and the fact that I'm staying in another state for two months of Summer Break. Now that I'm here, though, I'll update more frequently since I have FREE TIME. :D (It's a beautiful thing.) I'm considering writing a chapter here or there from Chiisana's point of view, not sure yet. (For those of you who don't remember or didn't care enough to remember, Chiisana is Fyre's sister)**

**One of my younger sisters, (I actually partially modeled Chii after her, except Chii is less annoying) is requesting that I write Chii and Subaru as getting together later on, what do you guys think? Should I write Subaru and Chii as a couple, or would another Sakamaki or Mukami be a better match? Or should Chii be forever alone? It's up to you, so get your butts moving and write some reviews. I need feedback so that I don't feel like I'm writing to a wall. HELP ME OUT HERE, INTERNET!**


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